Cisterns help UF buildings cut water use

A cistern discreetly designed into the building of Rinker Hall 10 years ago when it was erected collects rainwater that is then used to flush the structure's toilets.

By Meg WagnerCorrespondent

While communities throughout North Florida struggle through a drought, one building on the University of Florida campus has been cutting its water use with a little building ingenuity.

An 8,000-gallon cistern discreetly designed into the building of Rinker Hall 10 years ago when it was erected collects rainwater that is then used to flush the structure's toilets, said Charles Kibert, a professor at the university's Rinker School of Building Construction.

The process saves about 36,000 gallons of drinking water a month, he said.

The rainwater is collected on the roof and then travels to the cistern — a large holding area — where it's cleaned of all major debris. Pipes then take the water to the building's bathrooms, Kibert explained.

The average building on campus uses about 40,000 gallons of water a month, Kibert said. By using the rainwater, Rinker needs only about 4,000 extra gallons.

“That's a pretty powerful number,” he said. “To think that we cut our potable water use down to 10 percent of what it should be.”

Meantime, two other cisterns, each 1,500 gallons in capacity, are also helping save water in and around Rinker. These cisterns, built into Charles R. Perry Construction Yard's rooftop garden, collect runoff rainwater that isn't absorbed by the garden and store it so it can be used to water the plants during dry spells.

As for the larger cistern, Kibert said the college decided to incorporate it, as well as other eco-friendly features, into Rinker's construction because it fit in with the material covered in the School of Building Construction.

“This kind of thing is right up our alley,” he said. “We teach this kind of stuff in the classroom.”

At times of low rainfall, the cistern is filled with potable water.

Rinker Hall was the first building on campus to utilize cistern technology, starting in 2002. Since then, the lacrosse facility on Hull Road also has built a cistern, and it uses it to water its fields, said Bahar Armaghani, assistant director of facilities, planning and construction at UF.

Like Rinker Hall, the lacrosse field also uses alternate sources of water during times of drought. The facility pipes in reclaimed water when there isn't enough rainwater to irrigate the large fields, she said.

A rainwater collection system isn't always an economical solution, explained assistant professor Jim Sullivan. A cistern eventually will pay for itself but, in some cases, it could take 50 years.

Armaghani said the main Rinker cistern cost $55,000.

Additionally, not every building lends itself to a rainwater harvesting system. A flat roof is necessary to collect rain, and some buildings would need to be remodeled before they could support a cistern system, Kibert said.

Since cisterns are not always an option, UF conserves waters in other ways, Armaghani said. Nearly all of the campus's landscaping is watered with reclaimed water, except for the baseball and football fields. The school also utilizes low-flow faucets and waterless urinals in buildings throughout campus.

“Water conservation is important to us,” she said. “We're dedicated to that, and we're always finding new ways to build on it.”

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